Did doctors make a mistake in making Mamata wait for 2 hours?

It will not be an easy day to forget for Mamata Banerjee. On September 12, the West Bengal chief minister sat for almost two hours at Nabanna Sabhaghar (state secretariat) in the company of vacant chairs waiting to meet the striking resident doctors from state-run hospitals who refused to enter the auditorium because the government did not allow them to livestream the meeting.The doctors state that their livestream demand was to ensure more transparency, but the government insisted that since the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital rape and murder case is a sub-judice matter, it will not be possible to telecast it.The last-minute failure to reach a compromise left the 32 junior doctors at 5.30pm to turn back on the state government’s third invite to them in three days.It also left Mamata in a state of frustration and anguish. “They don’t want justice, they want the chair,” the CM told the media, while adding that she was “willing to resign for people’s sake”. “I don’t want the CM’s position. I want justice for the city and its people. I also want justice for the murdered RG Kar doctor. I hope people understand this,” she added.Mamata’s double reference to “justice” sought to balance the cry for punishment for rape and murder of a post-graduate trainee doctor at Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9 as well as the toll the month-long protest has had on medical services and businesses ahead of Durga Puja, the state’s most important festival season.“I have been waiting and waiting and waiting. I want them to accept the Supreme Court’s verdict,” she said. “I support everyone supporting them. But we also want justice for common people, for those who need medical treatment. I have tried my best. I apologise to the people of Bengal that I could not solve the problem in three days. I forgive the doctors again. My only request is: please return to work.”It is not surprising that many doctors who are part of the protests are feeling that they may have overplayed their hand. In fact, the image of Mamata sitting patiently to meet the agitators may end up finally giving her an upper hand.After all, this is a case that for over a month has seen her not just pitted against the Opposition, the victim’s family and the doctors, but also her core constituents — the women voters. In fact, it betrayed restraint and calmness at a time when the Bengal CM has been accused of being ruthless and vengeful.In her address to the media, Mamata also referred to the “politics” behind the protests for the first time since the horrific incident came to light.“I have been greatly disrespected. There have been misunderstandings on social media because of fake news, slander, character assassination. People sought justice for Tilottama. But they don’t know there is a political colour to it. These people (protesters) don’t want justice, they want the chair,” she said.It also doesn’t win the doctors any favours who are now seeking President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s intervention in the impasse. medium nocaptionhttp://youtu.be/BCzo3_v8IXE?si=poSvVRdy6h9yWBPQWhat took place on September 12On September 9, the Supreme Court had said that if the doctors failed to resume work by 5pm on September 10, it would not be able to restrain the state government from taking action against them. The resident doctors, who have been on a strike since the body of the trainee doctor was found, then led a march to Swasthya Bhawan and gave a fresh set of demands before they would resume work.The protesting doctors want Kolkata Police commissioner Vineet Goyal to resign, and action to be taken against senior officials of the West Bengal government. They also want increased security for health workers, and an end to the “threat culture” in hospitals and medical colleges across the state.The first invite came on September 10 and the second came the next day. Junior doctors had rejected both, citing a number of reasons ranging from who was sending them the invite to the number of doctors that were being invited. They first specified that they would be satisfied with an invite only from either the state chief secretary or the CM’s office.Chief secretary Manoj Pant sent an email to the protesting doctors at about 2pm on September 12, urging the doctors to come to the state secretariat in a group of 15 to meet the CM. The doctors responded in a couple of hours and said that they will come if their delegation comprises 30 representatives and if their proposed dialogue with the CM and other senior officials.At 5.30pm, 32 protesting doctors arrived at the state secretariat, but then refused to meet the CM because their livestream demand was not met. At 6.45pm, Mamata addressed the press, while the agitating doctors returned to Swasthya Bhawan in Kolkata’s Salt Lake area, the site of their protest.“Was asking for livestreaming to maintain transparency an ego issue? We wanted to discuss our five-point demand,” West Bengal Junior Doctors’ Forum representative Arnab Mukhopadhyay told the media. medium nocaptionhttp://youtu.be/lLfoQnSgXJM?si=kQXv8eD7VfAGCw_SWhat does this mean for protesting doctors?The last-minute cancellation has exposed fissures in the city’s medical community for the first time since they closed ranks to fight for justice over a month ago.Within minutes of the doctors backing out of the meeting after the government refused to livestream it, several doctors took to social media to air their grievance against the move, with some calling it a wrong step. Others, however, felt that the government could have allowed the livestreaming for the sake of breaking the stalemate.“A breakthrough has to be made for the sake of patients and everyone in Bengal,” said Institute of Post-Graduate Medical Education and Research professor Diptendra Sarkar. “We were very close to it but it fell through. An agitation can’t go on forever and we need to sit across the table and thrash things out. It has dragged on for long enough and now we need to head towards solutions, for that’s what the agitation is aimed at. Not disruptions.”While the doctors’ demands need to be addressed, the latter, too, should realise that someone has to take a step forward to break the ice, said Subhhrojyoti Bhowmick, clinical director at Peerless Hospital.“Being a part of the medical fraternity, I sympathise with the doctors and share their grievances. We have been on the streets for more than a month and have agitated for a set of justified demands,” he said. “But we, too, need to be flexible. Both the government and the doctors should realise that whoever makes the first move towards a settlement will turn out to be a hero. Blinking does not necessarily mean conceding defeat. After all, the discussions are the beginning of a process towards cleansing the health system.”“Wrong decision. It was taken in haste and was an impulsive move that will not lead us anywhere,” a senior doctor posted on social media.Others, like paediatrician Shantanu Ray, felt the government could have been a little more lenient. “If not livestreaming, they could have been allowed to record the proceedings. At least that would have allowed the discussions to take place. Having said that, a hardline posture will not solve this issue. We need to revive the talks immediately without being rigid,” said Ray. medium nocaptionhttp://youtu.be/tKoyKwzXt1s?si=CnvmxADMnF9GBAAtWhat now?On the face of it, the stalemate will continue. The CM, however, has also made it clear that the door has not been slammed on future possibilities of dialogue.“No disciplinary action will be taken. We will wait patiently but please join work. And, if they still want to talk (after this), I will tell my officers to sit with them,” she said, adding that the Emergency Services Maintenance Act would not be invoked against doctors as it was done in Uttar Pradesh. “I was born out of protests myself,” she explained.She also reiterated that 27 people have died over the past month, out of the 7 lakh patients who have been denied treatment due to the strike.The doctors too are hoping for a compromise. “This movement is a public movement and we want people to see the discussion. We are still hopeful and we want to talk to the government to end this impasse,” a junior doctor told TOI.